


Bruised Petals Just Like a Bruised Pride

by AmateurScribes



Series: Whumptober 2019 [25]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Miraculous Ladybug Fusion, Bullying, Humiliation, M/M, Prompt Fic, Public Humiliation, Superheroes, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 11:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21178499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmateurScribes/pseuds/AmateurScribes
Summary: It took a lot for Grif to build up the courage- and money- to buy a bouquet to gift to Simmons on the hopes that the other wound attend the school dance with him.It fails long before it even had a chance to succeed.





	Bruised Petals Just Like a Bruised Pride

**Author's Note:**

> I struggled so hard trying to figure out how to do this prompt before I said 'fuck it' and went with one of my fusion AU's that I hadn't written anything for yet. [Here's](https://agent-murica.tumblr.com/post/183222425515/decided-to-make-this-a-full-on-au-instead-of-a) the post detailing a little bit of what's going in the AU, in case you don't know much about Miraculous Ladybug.
> 
> For the duration of this event, all mistakes are my own.

Grif's never considered himself to have much dignity- by this point in his short life, he's exhausted all dredges of it, leaving a teenager who could sink any deeper into the barrel.

That doesn't mean he's not vulnerable to feeling embarrassed at times. It happens, ok? He's human too.

But now that he's a hero, and there's a maniac going around turning people who feel a little too strongly about something into villains, it's better if he kept himself emotionally distant. Which, considering that he was already one step ahead of the game in that regard, made it so that he was the more composed hero compared to Maroon Beetle.

That didn't stop his kwami, Huggins, from bitching at him though to act more emotional, always trying to get him to confess his feelings to Simmons. 

And as much as he hated to admit it, her constantly boosting his confidence was starting to get to him, to the point where he had actually built up the confidence to  _ do it. _

He was actually going to ask Simmons out. To the dance coming up at least, and if the redhead mistook him for wanting to go as friends, he wouldn't correct him.

But it was a step in the right direction at least.

"Dex, can I bring your ring today for show and tell?" Kai asked as he was packing her school bag for elementary school.

Frowning, and glancing at his miraculous, he raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "Why do you want to bring this  _ cheap _ thrift store-bought ring? Don't we have anything better?"

Sticking her tongue out at him, the fifth-grader rolled her eyes and said, "Trust me, Dex, that's like the most interesting thing we have in the house. I can make up a story on how it 'came' into the family lineage."

"No," he shook his head, knowing that he'd get the scolding of a lifetime from Huggins for being so careless, and he'd rather avoid that as much as possible.

"But I need to bring in  _ something," _ she whined, stomping one of her feet against the floor.

"Being a brat isn't going to change my mind," he handed her the backpack and said, "Come on, we need to start walking."

Kai's cheeks puffed up in anger, but then her eyes glinted, and she smiled at him, racing over to where he stood waiting at the door, grabbing onto his hand and swinging it a little as she said, "Ok! I'm ready!"

Grif didn't even question her sudden change in mood, he knew that he had to get her to school so that he could rush to his locker to make sure that the roses that he had bought the other day were still fine.

So when they reached her elementary school, he waited until Kai was safe with the rest of her peers before booking it to his high school just a few blocks down the road, cutting across the connected fields to save some time.

Once in the building, he went towards his locker on the third floor, twisting in the combo, and opening it expecting to see the bouquet and being greeted with only a singular rose, edges browning with the petals flimsy.

Eyes wide with confusion, he blinks and closes the locker door- not all the way so he wouldn't have to put in the combo again- and then opening it as if the other flowers would suddenly appear.

But they just  _ weren't there. _

Slamming his locker door shut after grabbing the remaining rose, his mind raced on who possibly knew his combo, and why they would go into his locker for the expressed purpose of stealing a bunch of flowers.

He had half a mind to go to security to inform them of the theft- why bother putting up cameras around the building if they weren't going to help in moments like these- but then the bell rang and he knew that he had to get to class.

Grif was beyond pissed off, and if he wasn't in a public setting, he'd use this as a perfect reason to prove Huggins' never-ending optimism wrong.

As he approaches the science lab, he can hear the chattering of his classmates already inside, and he's thankful that he doesn't share this class with Simmons, otherwise he'd have to hide his bad from him and that'd be nearly impossible.

But upon entering, he can see that Temple's at the front of the classroom captivating the attention of everyone else with what he's saying and  _ holding. _

And Grif feels his blood turn into burning ice at the sight of the crumpled and nearly destroyed bouquet in his hands.

"If you ask me, they're a match made in heaven," Temple snootily states, holding out the bundle of flowers as if they personally offended him. "I mean- can you imagine it? The grade's biggest nerd getting together with  _ that _ hot mess?"

A few of the students laugh at the statement, but Grif's just trapped in place eyes trained only on the roses.

When the  _ fuck _ did that asshole go into  _ his _ locker?

"Honestly, I'm doing him a favor," Temple sneered, moving to throw the flowers in the trash can with such a carelessness that Grif felt as though he'd been stabbed. "Roses are so cliche nowadays."

But then Temple makes eye contact with him, and a cruel grin grew on his face as he loudly asked, "Right, Grif?"

And like that, pairs of eyes all turned on him, and his face flushed uncomfortably, hands gripping his bag tightly as if it was his only lifeline.

Never, in his life, has Grif felt so  _ humiliated. _

Without saying a word, he stormed out of the room, heading straight towards the men's bathroom, ignoring the shrill sound of the warning bell.

He doesn't care about the sound that the door makes as he rushes in, letting it slam harshly and after checking to make sure that the bathroom is empty, he collapses against the wall and sinks down to the tiles, not disgusted at all by the thought like Simmons might have been.

"What a fucking asshole," he hissed to the quiet room. He was obviously waiting on a response from Huggins, but when the cat kwami didn't appear, he looked into his school bag curiously, only to find that she wasn't there.

And the hand that held the straps of the bag was missing his  _ ring _ too.

Of all the days that Kai had to pull this shit-

Taking in a deep breath, knowing that he would have to deal with the embarrassment alone, he tried to count to ten, wanting to make sure that one little event could overflow the carefully constructed dam in his mind.

"Now, I know that I was  _ just _ making fun of you, but this? This is really pitiful," breaks him out of his trance, and he glares up at the smug look of Temple.

"Go die in a hole," he growls, not wanting to deal with the bully at the moment.

"I don't see why I should, I was only speaking the truth," Temple shrugged his shoulders. "You could honestly do so much better than that  _ loser _ of all people, if anything, I saved you from future embarrassment."

"Oh, yeah? And you'd know so much about that," he rolled his eyes, getting off of the floor so that they could be on equal footing. "Remind me again, who's Biff going with to the dance? Oh right,  _ Georgina." _

A thunderous expression flashed onto Temple's face, but the jerk was always good at maintaining his composure.

Getting up in his face, Temple snapped, "You're just a joke, you know that? And not even a funny one.  _ Everyone _ sees the way that you flounder around that nerd, and  _ everyone _ knows that if he knew about your feelings he wouldn't give you the time of the fucking day."

It was as if the asshole knew exactly how to get under his skin because his heartfelt strangled at the thought that Simmons would just drop him if he knew about his feelings for him. It was his greatest fear, it was the one thing that managed to keep him up at night.

Stepping back, Temple decided to destroy what was left of the confidence that Huggins had slowly been building up, saying, "So do us all a favor before you make an even bigger clown of yourself than you already do,  _ circus freak." _

And having said that, Temple left the bathroom, leaving Grif back to his pity party.

But Grif didn't go back to wallowing in embarrassment, instead, his fists tightened and he felt his fingernails dig tightly into his palms, and faintly recognized pricks of thrones breaking the skin and causing small droplets to form.

Gritting his teeth, he twisted around to face his reflection in the mirror, glaring at himself for his stupid fucking confidence in  _ ever _ thinking that  _ anything _ would go right for him for once.

And when he brought up the rose within eyesight, all anger faded from his body, and he just didn't know why he even bothered trying.

Eyes closing, he completely misses the blue tainted akuma land on the rose, fusing into it.

But Grif's head snaps up at the mental connection, getting a good look in the mirror at the neon blue butterfly outline that hovered over his face.

_ "It's not fair how others can turn other’s emotions into cruel jokes, wouldn't you agree, Jexter?" _ a voice echoed in his mind.  _ "I can give you the power to show them how easily jests can turn against them." _

He- he shouldn't-

_ "All I ask for in return," _ the voice purred and he felt his will to fight against the villain flee from him.  _ "Is Maroon Beetle's and Calico Cat's miraculous.'" _

There's really no fighting against such a tempting offer, and for once he's glad that Kai had done what she did because that meant that the ring was safe for the moment at least.

"It's a deal," he agreed, a cruel smirk growing on his face, blue-tinted muck engulfing his body, and it feels as though  _ Grif _ just turned off.

And when he next opens his eyes, it's the Jexter left in his place, orange skin and white painted face, black painted lips turning up as his golden eyes gleamed among his black sclera.

His four-pointed hat jingles with the sounds of bells as he tilts back his head to cackle.

He'd show Temple just  _ who _ was a  _ joke. _

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still stuck over whether to have made it Hargrove or Chrovos Papillon in this fic, which is why I didn't give a name for the Butterfly miraculous wielder, haha. Indecision is going to be the death of me!
> 
> If you'd like to contact me, you can find me at either of my Tumblr's: @agent-murica (main) and @amateurscribes (writing)!


End file.
